104/94, 109
126/94 Center for the Independence of Judges and Lawyers v. Algeria,
and Others

The
Facts

1 The
communication is in the form of a report published by the Center for the Independence
of Judges and Lawyers of Geneva, Switzerland. It describes harassment and persecution
of judges and lawyers in 53 different countries including 18 of the African
countries party to the African Charter. The harassment and persecution described
includes murder, torture, intimidation and threats of all kinds. The report
describes special features of court systems, such as military courts and special
tribunals.

Complaint

2. The
communication does not specify which of the facts it contains it regards as
violations. Neither does it specify any sought remedy.

The Law

3. Article
56 of the African Charter reads:

Communications
... shall be considered if they: Indicate their authors even if the latter requests
anonymity

4. Rule
114, section 3 of the Rules of Procedure of the African Commission on Human
and Peoples’ Rights reads:

In order
to decide on the admissibility of a communication ... the Commission shall ensure:...that
the author alleges to be a victim of a violation, ..., that the communication
is submitted in the name of an individual who is a victim (or individuals who
are victims) who would be unable to submit a communication or to authorize it
to be done

5. The
reason for these provisions is that the Commission must receive communications
with adequate information with a certain degree of specificity concerning the
victims.

6. The
present report submitted by the CIJL does not give specific places, dates, and
times of alleged incidents sufficient to permit the Commission to intervene
or investigate. In some cases, incidents are cited without giving the names
of the aggrieved parties. There are numerous references to “anonymous” lawyers
and judges. Thus, in this case the author is not an alleged victim, nor is the
communication submitted in the name of a specific victim, nor does the complainant
allege grave and massive violations. The information in the communica­tion is
insufficient to permit the Commission to take action.